The Halloween Party
by Pre-Animation Man
Summary: Despite the costumed guests' scaring each other on the way to a party, Halloween is still celebrated in a festive and appropriate way


THE GROUND lies frosty at night.

Big forest pumpkins! Squashes! Rutabagas grow ripe . . . turning yellow and orange!

It's the time of year when things go brown Tree branches seem like skeletons' fingers. Bands of black crows flit through chilly gray skies.

"GET READY! QUICK!" they cry.

Snails and beetles listen.

Robins, orioles, and ducks wing south. Ants go marching with fat grubs.

Louis puts up cowberry and parsnip jelly. The wind blows!

The squirrel twins dash about—storing nuts. While Uglydolls sleepily digs a nice muddy bed.

One small figure, however, was wide awake, planning.

Stepping out of his oak-tree house and looking around.

Moxy!

Excitedly he said:

"I will give a Halloween party! People like to dress up and have fun!"

So he sent out invitations, carefully written on dry oak leaves. "Come Scary as Possible he wrote."

He delivered them himself, before sunup, laying a pinecone on each leaf so it wouldn't blow away.

Then rushed home to get things ready!

Halloween Eve was pitch-black with a huge white-apple moon.

A number of ghosts appeared, in all sizes. Nervously popping out of holes and bushes, dressed up in white long sheets.

Ugly ghosts! Some end-of-year honeybees flew, timidly, as tiny, tiny bee ghosts.

Moxy, already half-asleep for winter, spun out of his hole, making crisp leaves fly. "What's happening?" he grumbled.

"It's the event of the year!" yelled Big Bird, who, with Elmo, grabbed Cookie Monster by the paw and put him in a crazy costume of weeds and feathers. They dragged him off toward Cookie Monster's.

"I'M HAVING A NIGHTMARE!" shouted the Moxy.

Toucan Sam came as a banshee.

(Though she wasn't exactly sure what a banshee was.) The banshee opossum bumped into a strange, awful figure!

(Which was Louis, the worrier. Dressed in peapods with stalks and burrs sticking out.)

Both ladies yowled with fright and ran for their lives!

"H-O-O-OOO!"

Each ghost—shaking a candle—began scaring the ghost figure ahead or behind.

A terrible panic started and everyone scrambled home!

Bolting the door! Hiding beneath twigs!

Not one arrived at Cookie Monster's house, where firefly lanterns hung.

Cookie Monster was waiting eagerly for his guests.

It was spooky with nobody in the forest at all!

"Maybe my idea was too scary!" he thought to himself.

So he stepped outside, racing along the trail, shouting, "Come as yourselves. Just come as who you are. BUT PLEASE COME!"

Lie shouted it everywhere, urgently.

One by one, figures stepped into white moonlight. Shadows of animals.

Of insects. Of birds who'd not gone south. They came down the trail again.

The night was young. Hurray!

Now there were two who didn't care about parties at all. Just wanting to see

what was happening.

(Maybe to locate a tasty meal!)

These two were Leah and Zac. The kids hid behind the oak while the owl sat in high branches,

W-A-T-C-H-I-N-G.

Guests below bobbed for apples.

Louis, giggling, tumbled into a pan of water and crab apples. Crab apples stuck to her spines. She won the prize!

Next the treasure hunt was announced.

In an hour you had to bring:

1 Corncob, 3 Porcupine Quills,

1 Onion, 2 Spider Webs, 7 Cockleburs.

The prize: Aunt Skunk's Fly Pie.

Off raced the guests, hunting in all directions! Most returned with only one item.

No guest brought everything!

Cookie Monster smiled, expecting this. He cut the pie so each one got a slice.

Suddenly, Zac

sailed into their midst, screaming:

"I WIN!"

But in his haste he missed the pie and landed right on the treasures. He rolled upon corncobs . . . was jabbed with quills . . .

wept onion tears . . . grew tangled in webs . . . sat on cockleburs! He hastily left the party. Empty-clawed!

Next was Pin the Tail on the Fox.

Tip Tucci was blindfolded and headed for the oak tree.

Leah leaped out and—whoops— got an extra tail!

He yowled and ran out of the forest!

Now the party truly began!

Shrews and rabbits did tarantellas, and songs were sung all night.

tapping his paw in time.

Then, slowly, the merry party broke up. Folks danced homeward, humming.

Others trotted or flew to places of cozy leaves, moss, or shredded honeysuckle.

Miguel Rivera was led away sleepwalking. Yawns were loud. Eyes closed.

Brown leaves crackled underfoot or blew along the silvery air. Winter was around the corner! At home, Cookie Monster tucked his blanket up under his chin, sighing with happy weariness.

He set his alarm for Christmas.

The forest was quiet as the moon.

But, as Cookie Monster slept, somebody wrote in chalk, "WE LOVE YOU," across the door! And whoever it was scampered off. Into the ghost of Halloween night.


End file.
